Teva Names a New Chief Executive

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries of Israel named Jeremy Levin of Bristol-Myers Squibb as its next chief executive, replacing Shlomo Yanai. Mr. Levin, 58, a doctor educated at the University of Cambridge, worked at Bristol-Myers as senior vice president for strategy, alliances and transactions. He will take over as president and chief in May, Teva said in a statement, after Mr. Yanai, 59, retires. Teva’s shares plunged last year amid mounting competition for its No. 1 drug, a branded multiple sclerosis medicine called Copaxone. Mr. Yanai, a former Israeli army general with no previous pharmaceutical experience, spent $6.5 billion last year to buy the American biotechnology company Cephalon, then told investors in December that Teva might not able to meet its long-term target of $31 billion in sales by 2015.

A version of this brief appears in print on January 3, 2012, on Page B2 of the New York edition with the headline: Teva Names a New Chief Executive. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe